United Way Strengthens All Citizens

The United Way of North Central Iowa helps fulfill unmet needs of north Iowa Citizens across health, education, and income measures.

NIVC Services is proud to be a member organization of the United Way. Their support has enabled our organization to expand programs for students with disabilities. Those programs include Project SEARCH NI at Mercy Medical Center, Making the Grade, Career Connections and most recently an after-school transition program.

Project SEARCH NI provides a rotation of three internships during one academic school year to students or recent graduates at Mercy Medical Center.

Making the Grade is job placement program for high school students with disabilities.

Career Connections helps students attending north Iowa Alternative Schools identify career goals, prepare for post-secondary training or employment and get the supports they need to be successful.

JobLink Boot Camp is an after-school program that will give high school students with disabilities a combination of classroom and community career development experiences. It will be launched in January 2018.

All the programs described not only benefit the participants but our community at large. The majority of these young people will spend their adult lives in North Iowa. We want and need them to be contributing members of our workforce.

Employment for people with disabilities goes far beyond enhancing the individual’s income and quality of live. It increases state tax revenues, while decreasing dependency on state entitlement programs. I strongly encourage you to be a part of the solutions that United Way of North Central Iowa supports and that our community needs.